Parents Group: Restrain Power Of Children's Agency

TALLAHASSEE — Families who say their lives have been ruined by false accusations of child abuse gathered at the Capitol Monday to push for restrictions in the state's child-welfare law.

Toting pictures of their children and reams of paperwork about their cases, they said the Florida Department of Children & Families needs to be restrained.

''They're destroying our children in the name of protecting them,'' said L. Nelson McAlexander, a Jacksonville man who organized the rally to support the proposed ''Family Bill of Rights'' that would require investigators with the former Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services to get a court order before removing a child from a home.

But a veteran of the movement said he is not convinced that the legislation, sponsored for the third year by Sen. John Ostalkiewicz, R-Orlando, will even be heard during the session that opens today.

''From what I'm hearing, the senator is running out of steam on this one,'' said Dean Tong of Tampa.

Ostalkiewicz, however, said the bill (SB 516) is a personal priority. A similar bill is expected to be filed in the House by Rep. Stephen Wise, R-Jacksonville.

''We've got a better shot this year than last,'' said Ostalkiewicz, elected to the Senate in 1994 on an anti-HRS platform. ''We're going to keep pecking away at it.''

The bill would require a court order to remove a child from a home, unless it is a medical emergency or the child is in immediate danger.

The state agency opposes the legislation, saying it would make it difficult to remove children from bad situations.

Children are removed from their homes only as a last resort, said agency spokeswoman Michelle Lagos. Last year, 112,000 abuse reports were investigated, resulting in 75,000 confirmed cases.

Fewer than 3,000 children were removed from their home, Lagos said.

The bill also would require callers to the abuse hot line to identify themselves and would allow alleged perpetrators to petition the court to learn their accuser's name.

Callers now are allowed anonymity when making allegations to the hot line.

Tong, who was joined by families from Broward, Dade, Polk and Pinellas counties, said he was wrongly accused of molesting a child, adding that the hotline is an ''open invitation to malicious slander.''